Ask HN: Messed up my education, now 30 and regretting it. What to do?

Is the opportunity cost of not having a degree in the field of your choice higher than the opportunity potential of having the one in the field you want to have a career in? Do you enjoy working underneath younger employees with less experience who are above you simply because they have a degree? It's simply harder to get into those interesting parts of computing without that piece of paper, and if you're going to put in the work to be on the same footing as those who are credentialed, you might as well get the credential to go along with it. At that point, you'll have erased the negative stigma you feel you have, and also know that any future failures to get where you want to go are not based on your lack of education. Knowing that it really IS about you is a cool piece of enlightenment that a lot of people aren't able to grok.

Years ago I read a letter to an advice columnist that has stuck with me. The writer was debating going back to college and said something like "If it takes me four years to finish my degree, I'll be 50 when I'm done!"

The columnist's response was "And how old will you be in four years if you don't go back for a degree?"

Even if it takes you ten years doing it part time on the side, you'll be further ahead than if you never did it, and even if you never finish a degree you can still take some classes in the areas that are interesting to you.

What you're talking about here is probably an "evening" or "professional" MBA. They definitely exist for fields other than business. My local high-ranking university offers about a dozen Professional Master's, including a well-respected Computer Science program. They usually have one Evening Bachelor's program of some sort as well (next year it's health informatics).

An Executive MBA is usually a very expensive rubber stamp for CEOs or VPs who clearly already have the skills an MBA would provide. The same university provides both an Executive MBA and a Global Executive MBA, which are 1.5 to 3x the cost and take substantially less time.

Get the undergrad so you have the option to do a masters later. Options for any financial independence are a) go to school, b) start a business, or c) become a talent star of some kind.

Are you c? Probably not. Do you have a b in you and given it's a 3-5 year project for most people, are you more likely to succeed at it right now than when you get out of school? Maybe, timebox 3-6mos and do your current dream startup, and when it fails you will know whether you're ready to do it again.

If you can afford to do a) it's a supreme privilege to spend years in school, and you get out the other side with one less giant constraint.

(Didn't finish undergrad either, 20+ years in tech, didn't go back to school because it was always to meet other peoples expectations, and didn't finish because ego insisted succeeding in spite of a self-imposed handicap showed how special I was. It's literally as dumb as it sounds.)

If you don't have a degree, it may have little bearing on your individual talent or ability, but you will always be assigned to work for only the dumbest people who do have one, and they will be your ceiling. This is the random sign from the universe you are looking for. Do it.

Yes. https://omscs.gatech.edu/program-info/admission-criteria

> Applicants who do not meet these criteria will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis; however, work experience will not take the place of an undergraduate degree.

> Georgia Tech requires that international applicants hold the equivalent of a U.S. four-year baccalaureate degree earned at a regionally accredited institution.